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From time to time, I like to provide the actual numbers for my readers. Buyers and Sellers alike  “should” keep abreast of the real estate market. I’m always amazed at some of the dire numbers and doom and gloom coming from the media. I personally track – almost every day, the numbers of active listings, pending and sold within the past month or few months. Remember, in January of 2005, we had “less” than 7,000 active listings – and the demand became absolutely frenzied.
That isn’t very many listings since our listings include properties from all over Arizona. Typically, someone wanting to sell their lot or their home or mobile home, wherever they are in Arizona, know that the majority of home buyers are looking from the Phoenix metropolitan area, thus they list them in this MLS.
In our entire multiple listing area: as of October 15, there were 19,783 active listings.
In Phoenix: there were 3,883 ACTIVE listings, and 3,082 PENDING, and 5,252 have CLOSED since July 30, 2011.
In Mesa: there were 1,642 ACTIVE listings, 1,018 PENDING, and 1,848 CLOSED since July 30, 2011.
I generally post my updates in Facebook at Mesa Arizona Real Estate. If you would like the numbers on any of the other cities in our valley, just shoot me an email, sign up on my website at: Homes Arizona Real Estate, or give me a call. I’m here to help.
North Eastern Arizona offers many spectacular views. This photograph was taken from the top of the Sunrise Ski Lift in Greer, Arizona. During the summer, the lift is available for trips up to the top - approximately 11,000 feet - overlooking the valley. On one such trip, I took this photograph looking east towards New Mexico, above tree line. I can never take enough of these pictures and try to capture the view in such a way that the one viewing the picture will feel just a little of what I am feeling! All of this just three hours from Mesa, Arizona.
Yesterday morning, May 10, 2011, a landmark located in northern Arizona, burned down. Fortunately, I’ve been one of the many who had the opportunity to visit this pristine area. I’ve taken  several photos of the Lodge and the area, and share a photograph of the Lodge as well as the meadow directly behind the Lodge.
Located about three hours north and east of Mesa, Arizona, this mountain community is particularly special. Scattered around the “former” Lodge are cabins, catch and release fishing, green, green meadows and lakes, streams and trees and mountains.
Truly this amazing  Lodge will be missed sitting as a reminder that a community such as this one is alive and well. I’ve heard the owner will rebuild, and I, of course, will continue to visit Greer and enjoy the beauty of northern Arizona.
If you're thinking of moving to Arizona, there are, indeed, many beautiful places. Arizona has the desert communities, the mountain communities, and the lake communities, and when you purchase your home, chances are, you will meet someone close by from your area. You see, we do have hot summers, but the mountains and the lakes and rivers are close by, and the likelihood of a hurricane, tornado, or earthquake - nil.
What a great post by Barbara. I ditto everything she posts. I joined in 2006, and then faded off a bit the last couple of years, BUT, I have to say that I learned, and continue to learn from Active Rain bloggers and real estate professionals. In addition, I've been able to connect with so many great people who I now consider friends!
 
Via Barbara Hensley, Homes for Sale, Luxury, Acreage, Waterfront, Golf Course,Ranches (RE/MAX Hometown, Rockwall, Heath, Royse City, Rowlett, Fate):
 There is no doubt about it....ActiveRain is a great resource for learning about most anything to do with the real estate industry including marketing, technology and ethics, as well as promoting listings and market information.
I am sure you will all agree, if you are willing to learn, you can learn more in ActiveRain than likely any other real estate related source. I believe this is due to the fact that members control the content and the members are usually hard working currently active professionals.
The ActiveRain melting pot of ideas is always simmering, boiling.......
ActiveRain offers so many opportunities to learn new things, to mention a few:
Unexpected pleasures.....I have learned more lately from an unexpected source in ActiveRain - the comments made on ActiveRain member posts which invite open discussions about a particular topic. There are ActiveRain Bloggers who write about their opinion on a topic, often asking a question, or in some manner throwing a topic out which immediately results in a rapid rush of comments, often with a wide variety of additional ideas or opinions.
This is not unlike watching or being part of a panel discussion or a debate. It is an exciting and informative way to learn when the comments come flying in on a hot topic. I always read the comments made by other members on hot topic posts when I am commenting. The comments made often lead me to checking out the Blog of the people making the comments and I learn more reading their blogs. I am often drawn through a comment made by another ActiveRain member to become a big fan of that person following their posts.
It is much like throwing a pebble in a lake and seeing the circle widen to cover a huge area - from that one tiny pebble! That is how I find ActiveRain - I like to follow that tiny pebble as the circles widen granting access to more learning opportunities than I ever imagined.
ALL FROM THAT ONE TINY PEBBLE! From one little post, many comments, leading to other posts, to more comments, to again more posts....follow the ever widening circle of knowledge & networking opportunities here in ActiveRain by commenting and reading the comments of others.
I recently posted several simple posts, nothing much, but they opened discussions which provided a mass of information via the comments. There are dozens and dozens of comments on these three posts that resulted in a fantastic learning experience for me as well as many other readers.
Here's The Question.....What Are The Three Most Important Things in A Real Estate Website?
Blog Entry: Question: Do You Use the ActiveRain "Generate Short URL" Link?
Blog Entry: Is Your Blog the Best "Unread" Secrets on the Internet? How Do You Promote Your Outside Blog?
N O T I C E.....M A K E Y O U R C O M M E N T S H E R E.......F R E E......N O C H A R G E ! ! !
Don't Move to Dallas...Until You See Rockwall on Lake Ray Hubbard
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Barbara Hensley
RE/MAX Hometown
201 Laurence Drive #102
Heath, Texas 75032
972-772-9699
972-771-9611 fax
The Barbara Hensley Collection
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Recently, one of the local newspapers ran an article on the risks associated with short sales. Many agents are not familiar with the drawbacks of short sales and thus, do not explain them to nor do they properly prepare their sellers. Though Arizona is an anti-deficiency state - meaning that if a loses his/her home through foreclosure, the lender cannot collect the remaining dollars that the seller contracted to pay. Some of the lenders also honor that system with the short sales;  HOWEVER, not all of them do.
"I knew that there is a great deal of confusion said Michelle Lind, general counsel for the Arizona Association of Realtors. She said that real-estate lawyers differ on which situations are subject to the anti-deficiency statutes but that, depending on the kind of loan and the terms of the contract, the seller can be liable. "The law is unclear," she said, "and there are many variables that factor in."
It appears as though the second mortgages or home equity appear to be the biggest culprits. Often, the seller is required to agree to pay certain amounts in order for the lender to approve the short sale in the form of promissory notes.
If you, as a seller, wish to short sell your home, be certain to consult with an attorney and a CPA. I have included the entire article which contains great information for anyone considering a short sale:
READ MORE!
For years I have blogged. I've blogged on CometoSunnyAz.com, I've blogged on my website, HomesAzRE.com, and I've blogged on Active Rain. Last December I had a knee replacement - and, of course, that is a surgery that takes awhile to regain the strength and the energy to do everything I did before the surgery. Thus, I became a bit fickle on regularly posting. As I started to "somewhat" get back into the swing of things, I had the other knee replaced in October of this year. AND THEN, an unexpected hospitalization on December 20th of this year - and still recuperating.
It's now time for me to get back on the computer and write interesting and fun stuff about Arizona, about Mesa, and about real estate in general. Once I get my rhythm, it'll be all good. I've not forgotten all of my AR friends who I occasionally see on Facebook, a shorter and quicker way to communicate. I hope you are all doing well and have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Meanwhile, be sure and check out homes for sale information. I will be posting for cities and for communities and for bank owned, short sales, etc. Just let me know if you have any questions that I might be able to answer.
I suspect most of us have heard about the opportunity to obtain a “free” credit report from the three major reporting agencies every year allowing each of us to challenge any negative reporting, and then access our report for seven days after. You will be given a special report number – be sure and write it down – and you will need that in order to access any updates. I had one item on mine that was clearly bogus, and I challenged it as being untrue. I received an updated report that indicated it was removed. 
In addition to checking your payment records, etc., it allows you to check the spelling of your name, any addresses that belong to you, and to correct any incorrect information! I cleaned mine up.
I recommend that anyone thinking of purchasing a home take advantage of this annual opportunity. NO ONE wants to be turned down for any kind of loan. This is just one way to be prepared.
Be sure and sign in and get your free annual credit report here at: Annual Credit Report. Pay attention to the options of paying for any extras. You do not have to – unless, of course you choose to – pay for your FICO score, etc
As many of you know, I live and I work in Mesa, Arizona. I am minutes from two lakes, a short trip to mountains where cooler weather is available during the warm summer months - all within a two to three hour drive. Whether we drive east through Superior, Miami and Globe north, or north through Payson, or west and then north to Flagstaff, there's never a lack of places to see and spectacular views in Arizona! Being an "almost" native, there's very few places I haven't explored in our beautiful state.
Recently, on a trip north - two hours and 40 minutes from our home in Mesa - we happened upon Rainbow Lake near Show Low and Lakeside in the White Mountains. It's a fishing lake, and absolutely beautiful. I LOVE the clouds shadowing and reflecting in the water!
I love this post written by Jeff Belonger! New changes - again - for FHA!!!!
I rarely reblog, but this is definitely a worthwhile tidbit of information for homebuyers!!!!
Via Jeff Belonger-The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans ( - FHA Home Loans - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc):
FHA first proposed the monthly mortgage insurance changes in the beginning of 2010. Bill H.R. 5981 was first passed by the House in the spring and was just passed by the Senate the other day. What does this bill do for FHA mortgages? They have projected that it will yield approximately $300 million per month to the FHA insurance fund.
So what are the new FHA changes? - For terms greater than 15 years -
LTV's <= 95% will increase the monthly fee by 85 bps
LTV's > 95% will increase the monthly fee by 90 bps
And lastly, it will reduce the Upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium, UFMIP, from 225 basis points to 100 basis points.
The plan is to go into effect by September 7th, 2010 on all FHA case numbers. FHA gives it's reasons to this new plan. FHA letter from David H. Stevens
So what do the actual changes mean to the average borrower that will rely on FHA loans when purchasing a new home or refinancing?
- The Old Plan -
LTV's <= 95% will increase the monthly fee by 50 bps
LTV's > 95% will increase the monthly fee by 55 bps
Example of the changes regarding the FHA monthly mortgage insurance known as MMI or annual mortgage insurance premium and the FHA upfront mortgage insurance premium known as UFMIP.
As you can see, it would be much cheaper monthly with the old plan, even though you pay $3,317 more upfront, on top of your loan. This can also be a tax write off since it's included in your principal. You break even point on this type of scenario is 47 months, which is roughly 3.9 years. After this break even point, you would have started to spend more money in reality. This is how FHA will increase it's mortgage fund. As you can see, it won't be increased as quickly upfront, but over a longer period of time. So if you held onto this mortgage for 7 years, you would have spent approximately $2,522.
Now, there are several other factors to consider when reviewing this kind of information. Just for the fact that your original balance on the loan will be $3,317 lower and in 7 years, still be that much lower. And as I mentioned, you would have a little more of a tax advantage on the higher balance though.
All I wanted to do was to present the basics of FHA loans and not get into the extreme details on how one could show either side. What could this do to a potential home buyer? It could reduce your purchasing power. In this scenario, if you had originally qualified for a $275,000 loan with qualifying ratios of 31/43, what would your new purchase price be.
- New Purchasing Power after September 6th, 2010 -
With the new FHA monthly mortgage insurance and the FHA upfront mortgage insurance premium changes, your purchasing value would drop approximately $10,000, a purchase price of $265,000. Now, these are just averages, because this will all be based on the actual purchase price. Meaning if values are higher or lower, the total amount could change some. But this should give you a good understanding of what changes lie ahead for FHA mortgages in the near future.
UPDATE : Travis Newton did a similar post, using a $200,000 purchase price and as you can see, the mortgage payment inceased by $45.29/month. Notice *** FHA Changes
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For more information on FHA loans, please go to this link. The FHA Expert
For important mortgage insight to watch for, please read : Consumers need to be aware of these Red Flags!
For information about FHA myths & FHA rumors, please read : FHA Myths & Rumors
Copyright © 2010 by Jeff Belonger of Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc
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**Mesa, Arizona Real Estate** Mesa Arizona Realtor
Mesa,
AZ
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Teri Ellis at Homes Arizona Real Estate LLC
Address: Mesa, AZ, 85209
Office Phone: (480) 382-8711
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Today I received the very sad news that ActiveRain veteran 
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